(ATR) Rio 2016 officials tell Around the Rings the organizing committee will not be hosting a "100 Days to Go" event in the Olympic city.
The 100 days to go threshold for the 2016 Games falls on April 27. That day The Hellenic Olympic Committee will hand over the Olympic Flame to Rio 2016 in a special ceremony in Athens. The flame will then travel to Switzerland where it is expected to make stops in Geneva and Lausanne before departing for Brasilia on May 2.
Rio 2016 said to ATR that the organizing committee is focusing on torch related activities instead of organizing an additional ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. Rio 2016 officials were not available for further comment on the matter.
Four years ago, London held a special event at Kew Gardens to commemorate the final major milestone until the Games .
Rio still faces a long checklist to accomplish in the final 100 days. One venue, the velodrome, remains behind schedule in construction, and Olympic overlay is required in many venues. In addition, key transportation projects remain under construction with city organizers scrambling to finish them before spectators descend on the city.
Five sports, athletics, goalball, handball, Paralympic athletics, and water polo still need to hold test events, and IOC officials say they will be visiting Rio frequently to monitor preparations.
Remaining in the background of Olympic preparations is the current political crisis gripping the country. An impeachment committee in the Federal Government upper house is debating the charges brought from the lower house. If the committee votes to uphold the charges President Dilma Rousseff will be removed from office for 180 days as the upper house holds a trial on the charges.
Rio 2016 and Olympic officials say the impeachment proceedings will have no impact on the city's preparations. Rousseff is expected to receive the Olympic Flame in Brasilia on May 3 as it travels from Switzerland.
Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro
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